For the second consecutive year, Latifah and her mom, Rita Owens, are teaming up with the American Heart Association’s “Rise Above Heart Failure” initiative to raise awareness about heart failure. As part of the initiative’s “Red Steps Challenge,” Latifah and Owens — who was diagnosed with congestive heart failure over 10 years ago — are calling on six million Americans to take six million “red steps” in their favorite pair of red socks in recognition of six million Americans living with heart failure.

For Latifah, reuniting with the non-profit organization is “very important” and needs to be addressed by more people.

“Heart failure affects six million Americans, and it has the potential to affect a lot more,” Latifah said during an interview with The Huffington Post. “We feel like there’s certain small steps that you can take to prevent it, as well as manage it if you have it. So that’s why it’s important to get the word out. And it’s something that my mom has been dealing with, so this initiative is just something that we’ve been wanting to do together.”

According to the American Heart Association, being physically active and choosing a healthy diet — including foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium — are among the ways to decrease the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Upon discovering her mother’s diagnosis, the multi-hyphenated mogul says it was imperative for her entire family to band together to alter their daily lifestyle habits.

“My mom wasn’t the only one who decreased her salt intake, we as a family did,” she said. “Getting more exercise was one thing, but if we’re cooking dinner, we’re not cooking dinner for one person, we’re cooking for the whole family. So we cut that down. Also in the preparation of our food, adding more fruit, adding more vegetables, more healthy drinks, decreasing the sugar intake. All of those things affect us. So just changing one person’s diet in the family wound up changing the whole family’s diet, which helps all of us.”

In addition to being an advocate for healthy living in America, Latifah also wants her message to extend into the hip hop community. With the recent health-related passing of close friend and A Tribe Called Quest member, Phife Dawg, the 46-year-old encourages today’s artists to raise awareness in their music — similar to some of her peers from the early 90s.

“We’ve always had the power. What I want to see is the newer generation of artists who are coming out to really start speaking about things like we did,” she said. “We made party records, which we knew how to make and make really well, but we also talked about things that were going on in our communities. And it’s so important that the young voices start doing that more. Don’t be afraid to make a record about what you see happening right around you. Because for our generation of hip hop, we were able to impact things like apartheid in South Africa.”

The award-winning actress went on to add that the late rapper’s death should also be used as a reminder to support those dealing with health-related issues.

“I know Phife fought a long, long tough fight for a long time. But this should just let people know that none of us are immune to real life,” she said. “Tell the people you love that you love them right now. Also, if you see something that’s more destructive, be a support to them. Don’t be judge and jury to them; be a support system to those in your life who are dealing with situations, because they need your support.”

For more information on Heart Failure and the “Red Steps Challenge” click here.

Bessie, a HBO biopic about legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, received 12 Emmy nominators, nabbing four of the trophies, including Outstanding Television Movie, at the 2015 Emmy Awards.

Bessie writer/director Dee Rees scored both Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing nominations. The film stars Queen Latifah as Smith, and Mo’Nique as her mentor Ma Rainey; both were Emmy-nominated for their performances. Unfortunately, the 45-year-old Latifah didn’t take home the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series.

Bessie chronicles the life of Smith from her rise to fame to the expression of her sexuality. The HBO biopic was over 20 years in the making. The 38-year-old Rees gained notoriety with her coming-of-age lesbian story, Pariah, which debuted to great fanfare at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. That following year, Rees was hired to re-work the script and eventually landed the helm of Bessie.

A native of Nashville, Rees took a roundabout path to filmmaking. She earned an M.B.A. from Florida A&M U., and then worked in marketing for Procter & Gamble and pharmaceutical giant Schering-Plough in New York. Rees found her way to NYU film school. Internships with Spike Lee’s 40 Acres and Mule, her work on HBO’s Hurricane Katrina documentary When the Levees Broke, and the feature Inside Man, gave her real life, first-hand experience. From there, she developed her 2007 short, Pariah, into a feature film.

After Pariah’s debut at Sundance, Rees headed to Los Angeles, where she made the rounds with a pilot script that didn’t sell. She then wrote a pilot for HBO that was to star Viola Davis as the head of an inner-city school. That didn’t get made either, but HBO did offer her the chance to revive Bessie. Finally, Rees was able to follow up Pariah with a complex character portrait of this well-known historical figure. Rees tackled the singer’s battles with racial prejudice and acceptance in mainstream culture as a female entrepreneur. The writer-director currently is working on developing a series with showrunner Shondra Rhimes for FX, and she also directed the second episode reportedly for season 2 of Fox’s hit drama series Empire.

Despite the mass success of Empire director Lee Daniels, Rees says that there are still too few black LGBT directors making strides in Hollywood? “Behind the scenes we are still a minority in terms of LGBT people. You can name us on one hand. It’s not like the doors have burst wide open and ceilings have been shattered. There is still a struggle. Good work knock downs doors. There are some of us who are out there doing great work; telling our own stories.”

Rees spoke with BlackEnteprise.com about the making of Bessie and portraying the iconic blues singer’s bi-sexuality.

For print publications, the September issue is among the most highly-regarded issues of the year and is usually the industry’s most anticipated release. For at least eight black celebrated women to be recognized on its covers during magazines’ most significant month is not just special, it’s monumental.

Though these eight beautiful covers don’t signify a completely reformed industry — side eye to Allure for using a white model for an afro tutorial — it’s a reminder that black women shouldn’t go unrecognized.

For print publications, the September issue is among the most highly-regarded issues of the year and is usually the industry’s most anticipated release. For at least eight black celebrated women to be recognized on its covers during magazines’ most significant month is not just special, it’s monumental.

Though these eight beautiful covers don’t signify a completely reformed industry — side eye to Allure for using a white model for an afro tutorial — it’s a reminder that black women shouldn’t go unrecognized.

“I’ve never done that before. It was a little odd but it was also a quiet, relaxing thing,” the New Jersey-native recalled of the scene. “Sometimes she was so alone, and it was a moment for Bessie to acknowledge her vulnerability, which I can completely relate to … I don’t find [this nude scene] any more uncomfortable than kissing a girl in ‘Set It Off’ and sticking to the script.”

“You have to take your mind off of yourself and honor that character. Respect Cleo, respect Bessie.”

In the interview, Latifah also offered her thoughts on the controversy surrounding Bill Cosby’s list of rape allegations. Similar to other notable public figures who have spoken out on the situation, the actress-singer feels Cosby’s wholesome image is tarnished.

“It’s unfortunate because he has done so much in terms of entertainment, culture and black folks,” she said. “But right is right and wrong is wrong. All these women, all these stories, it’s just – what a big stain on such an amazing career.”

To celebrate the upcoming premiere of HBO’s original film, “Bessie,” the award-winning cable company launched a special two city event series in New York this week honoring the legacy of the blues-jazz singer called, “Bessie’s 81 Theater Tour.”

The event, which will coincide with the New York and Los Angeles premieres of the biopic starring Queen Latifah, will feature a workshop lead by Grammy Award-winning producer Bryan Michael Cox and singer-songwriter Stacy Barthe. The workshop will be offered to local artists in an effort to mimic the creative music process once used by Smith and her peers.

“In today’s music, I believe the constant utilization of live instrumentation is missing,” Cox said in a statement emailed to HuffPost. “Whenever that element is injected into popular music in this era, the song usually becomes a hit. One great example of this is Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk.’”

Barthe underscored Cox’s comment by stating how “disheartening” it is to hear today’s music in comparison to songs produced by artists during Smith’s era of music.

“We’re seeing an influx of music that to me, is thoughtless,” she admitted to HuffPost. “It lacks the real grit and emotion that artists from past generations had. You often don’t see today’s recording artists pouring their soul into their music. It can feel very manufactured at times, which is disheartening.”

In addition to the artist workshop, the two city promotional tour will also feature a music showcase comprised of a series of performances from local artists. It will conclude with a private dinner for native influencers and a surprise performance by an “A-list artist.”

“When thinking about how we wanted to build buzz about the film, we wanted to do something that was completely unique and immersive,” Lucinda Martinez, SVP of HBO Multicultural Marketing said in a press release for the event.

“We’re confident that this event series properly honors the legacy of Bessie Smith by showcasing aspiring songwriters and producers. We want to raise awareness for the film, create connections and offer these young creatives a platform to share their craft.”

The “Bessie’s 81 Theater Tour” will conclude in Los Angeles next month leading up to the May 16 premiere of “Bessie” on HBO.

The Queen Latifah Show has been cancelled in the midst of its second season; however, the show will continue to air original episodes through March.

A spokesperson for The Queen Latifah Show and Sony Pictures Television provided theGrio with the following statement on the show’s cancellation:

“We want to thank Dana, the producers and the entire staff of The Queen Latifah Show for creating a program that we are all very proud of. Thank you also to our terrific station partners and advertisers who supported the show.”

You can put your “Cosby Sweater” away, because Bill Cosby won’t be appearing soon on Queen Latifah’s syndicated talk show to promote his upcoming comedy tour.

According to TMZ, Queen Latifah and her talk show staff pulled the plug because of some rape allegations that resurfaced.

Earlier this month, comedian Hannibal Buress called Cosby a rapist during his stand-up set in Philadelphia. Buress was referring to the allegations of sexual assault made against Cosby by 13 different women:

In the recent issue of People magazine, the 44-year-old media maven opened up about her decision to care for her mom, Rita Owens, who was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease scleroderma last year.

“Anyone who has a job and then has a family member at home who is ill, it’s 24 hours. You have to be there. They need you,” she said. “I try to be as in the moment and as present as possible. And then I try to get some sleep and go to work and be present there and then go home and be present there.”

“It’s not a day or night that she doesn’t peek her head in my room and make sure I’m okay,” Owens added about her daughter’s attentive care. “If it’s medical she’ll go in and grill the doctors and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do. She sacrifices her time, her resources. She genuinely loves me and I know that.”

The New Jersey native’s laser sharp attention to detail has also transferred over into her passion for “The Queen Latifah Show,” in which she’s aiming to carve out her own niche in the world of daytime television.

“I’m naturally a bit edgier than typical daytime, but I kind of want to push things a little bit further, as far as I can respectfully, within the daytime space,” Latifah told the Associated Press last September. “I want more out of daytime TV. I want more choices, I want more heart, more humor…I learned I really have to be true to myself. … I want to go out there and do something that feels like me every day and is something I’m comfortable with and excited about.”

For more of Queen Latifah and Rita Owens’ inspiring story, check out the latest issue of People, on newsstands now.

While Queen Latifahis getting ready for the premiere of her new daytime talk show, the New Jersey emcee’s musical tastes haven’t the left the ’90s.

“I still think some of the best ones that have done it have yet to be topped. I still don’t think anybody has topped the whole era of Foxy, Kim, Missy, Eve, me on the tail end kinda things,” Latifah said about her class of women emcees on the Ricky Smiley Morning Show.

While she’s a fan of the reigning queen of rap, Nicki Minaj, Latifah recalls a time where it wasn’t just one woman who lead the charge.

It was the diversity of each woman emcee that created opportunities for both male and female aspiring rappers to thrive.

“I’m still looking forward to it not just being a one-at-a-time female rapper thing. I mean, I think Nicki Minaj is great, but I think we definitely need to blow up some of the other females that are out there.”

Do you agree with Queen Latifah? Listen to the interview here and let us know what you think in the comments below.